Young lives to save

PARENTS spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about the welfare of their children.

There are plenty of dangers out there, and it is common for parents to fear all manner of things — from crime to illness — that have the potential to destroy young lives.

But the biggest killer of young lives is something far more mundane — and something most of us partake in every day.

It has been revealed that road trauma is the leading cause of accidental death of children, teenagers and young adults, and is second only to disease and suicide as the biggest danger to young lives in Victoria.

In the Greater Geelong region, 22 people aged under 25 died in the past decade, and a further eight were killed on the Surf Coast, while thousands of Victorian children have been admitted to hospital after car crashes every year.

Tellingly, Geelong is ranked as the third worst region in the state for road fatalities of people under 25. That means our children are more at risk than those in vehicles on most of the state’s busiest roads including the Melbourne CBD or Hume Highway.

Forget crime or gang violence, our children’s lives are put at risk every time they get into a car.

Today the Geelong Advertiser and the Geelong-based Transport Accident Commission are joining forces to arrest this trend and save some lives. The fact that so many children’s lives are being put at risk is heartbreaking. That it is happening right on our doorstep is unfathomable.

The first step in the Save Our Kids campaign is to raise awareness. The next step is education, and to that end the TAC’s Road to Zero Education complex will open this week.

But at the end of the day the onus comes down to all of us.

It is incumbent on all road users to curb any careless or risk-taking behaviour. To slow down. To eliminate distractions.

If we all do our part, there should be no reason for worry for our children on the road. And we will all have a role in saving our kids.